Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Saturday, 30 May 2026, highlighted key findings from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6), pointing to significant improvements in maternal and child health, immunisation coverage, and institutional deliveries across India. Citing the survey data, he credited the gains to health-sector reforms under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Context

In his post, CM Choudhary wrote: 'सशक्त स्वास्थ्य व्यवस्था, समृद्ध भारत' ['A strong health system, a prosperous India'], framing the NFHS-6 data as evidence of the country's public health progress. He specifically cited three headline figures: institutional deliveries reaching 90.6 per cent, antenatal care (ANC) coverage at 95.9 per cent, and full immunisation coverage climbing to 87.1 per cent.

The NFHS-6 is the sixth round of India's National Family Health Survey, a large-scale, multi-round survey that tracks population-level health, nutrition, and demographic indicators. Its findings are widely used by both central and state governments to benchmark programme performance.

Policy Backdrop

The improvements cited by CM Choudhary are rooted in a series of centrally-sponsored health initiatives that have been scaled over the past decade. The National Health Mission (NHM), launched in 2005, laid the foundation for strengthening rural and urban healthcare delivery, with a particular focus on maternal and child health services.

Mission Indradhanush, initiated in 2014, was specifically designed to accelerate routine immunisation coverage among children and pregnant women who had been left out of regular immunisation programmes. The Ayushman Bharat scheme, announced in 2018, further expanded health insurance coverage and established Health and Wellness Centres at the primary care level, broadening the reach of preventive and promotive health services to crores of families.

Stakeholders and Impact

The metrics highlighted by CM Choudhary carry direct implications for mothers and infants, who are the primary beneficiaries of institutional delivery protocols and immunisation drives. A rise in institutional deliveries to 90.6 per cent is associated with reduced maternal and neonatal mortality, as hospital-based births allow for skilled attendance and emergency obstetric care.

Similarly, the ANC coverage figure of 95.9 per cent indicates that nearly all pregnant women are receiving at least some formal antenatal check-ups, a critical intervention for detecting and managing high-risk pregnancies. State health departments, including Bihar's, are key implementers of these centrally-designed programmes and will be expected to use the NFHS-6 data to identify gaps and refine their outreach strategies.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the release of detailed state-level NFHS-6 tables by the Union Health Ministry, which will allow individual states to assess their own performance against the national averages cited in the survey. For a state like Bihar, which has historically faced challenges in health infrastructure and delivery, the granular data will be critical for targeted programme planning.

The broader trajectory points toward India's long-term goal of reducing maternal and infant mortality rates as part of its development commitments. Sustained investment in primary healthcare infrastructure and community-level outreach will be essential to maintain and build on the gains reflected in the NFHS-6 findings.